This invention relates generally to an electrical contact for use in electrical connector assemblies, and more particularly to a two-piece socket contact assembly having a crimp barrel wherein an inspection aperture in an outer shell is open to the interior of the crimp barrel regardless of the rotational orientation of an inner liner with respect to the shell.
Crimping is a well known and common expedient used to interconnect or terminate stranded and solid wire conductors to electrical contacts. Generally, an open crimp barrel is employed with the conductor seated in a generally semicylindrical shell or barrel the sides of which are subsequently folded over or crimped to thereby mechanically retain and electrically connect the conductor to the contact. Another crimping arrangement utilizes a closed crimp barrel which is cylindrical in configuration. In this arrangement the conductor is seated within the barrel by longitudinal insertion through one of the barrel's open ends. In order to determine if the conductor has been seated within the barrel to the proper depth, some prior art crimp contacts have employed one or more inspection apertures on the crimp barrel.
A less common crimp contact arrangement is one which employes an inner crimp liner and an outer cylindrical shell. The outer shell is typically a complete cylinder which holds dimensional tolerances and reduces the possibility of sharp upturned edges after the crimping operation has been effected.
Where the contact assembly comprises two separate pieces, such as a tubular outer shell and a coaxial inner liner, an inspection aperture must be provided in the liner as well as in the shell, and the apertures must align, of course, or the inspection aperture in the shell will be obstructed by the liner. Accordingly, indicia are commonly provided on the shell and the liner for rotationally orienting the liner with respect to the shell. When the shell and the liner are properly oriented, the apertures in the liner and the shell are aligned so that the liner does not obstruct the inspection aperture of the shell. Providing such indica on the shell and the liner and then aligning the indica to orient the liner in the shell, however, increases the cost of the contact--and complicates its assembly.